Chasing Shadows
by NicKenny
Summary: A mysterious figure known only as the Shadow is tracking down members of Team Rocket in the region of Novis, throwing the organisation in disarray, with the police trying to hunt him down, in vain. Into this world a young trainer is thrust, accompanied only by her irritable and highly exasperating bulbasaur. Thier path will change the world. And the legendaries are watching...
1. Prologue

**Chasing Shadows**

**Introduction**

**(A/N) Hello internet! This is the opening chapter of my pokemon fanfiction Chasing Shadows, which will focus on the exploits of two OC's in an original region known as Novis, which will contain all 600 and something pokemon. And yes, there will be an explanation as to why, just keep reading. I'm expecting chapter length to be a bit longer than this chapter in the future, this is simply serving as an introduction. Well here we go, and I hope you'll enjoy this fanfic.**

**I love reviews, and when you're as laid back as I am, nothing gets me more inspired into updating than some reviews. Whether they're good or not, as long as they're helpful. Obviously I'm not looking for flamebait. :P**

_**Disclaimer: I, most unfortunately, do not own Pokemon. Sadface. But I do lay claim to any and all, characters, regions, towns, etc. of my own creation.I do not intend to make any money off of this particular piece of writing. I would greatly appreciate an absence of lawsuits.**_

_**Rating: Rated M for violence, blood, gore, crime, drugs, prostitution, disturbing images and…I don't know, possibly littering.**_

In the beginning there was Nothing. No sun, no moon, no grass, no trees, no water, no life. But out of this, a consciousness began to form, without body or thought, but driven by the simple desire of curiosity, searching for an answer to a question it couldn't begin to form, alone in the abyss of Nothing. For a long time, it lay in wait, gathering its energy into a single core of being. It gradually became aware that it was apart from the Nothing that surrounded it, and this epiphany confused and terrified it. If it was not Nothing, then what was it? Eventually, it reconciled itself with this idea, and wondered what it was. It decided that if it was not Nothing, then it would need an name for itself, to distinguish it from the abyss.

It spent a long time reflecting on this, before finally uncovering its name. With this discovery, the very Nothing that it had broken from shook, and in this chaos the being spoke its one word, shattering the Nothing. That word was the name it had given itself, the only word that it knew.

And that word was Arceus.

_I hear you sister. Even with all the distance of the world between us, I can still hear you. You should have known you'd never be able to hide from me. What am I but part of you after all? And how can you hide from yourself?_

The word echoed throughout the Nothing, and everything was changed, as something now existed, and the world could never go back to the state of pure, unaltered nothingness that it had once been. This creature, Arceus, looked around, and realised that the Nothing had been shattered, and that it was now malleable, and he began to shape himself a body, determined to make himself as different from the Nothing as he possibly could, now that he was certain of his individuality.

When he completed this task and saw that his work was good, he began to shape, from the Nothing, companions to rid him of his isolation and loneliness, to delight him with their own thoughts and words and personalities.

He spent a long time toiling at this, his Great Work, and in the end he created his four children, and named them Palkia, Dialga, Giratina and Mew, and brought them to life, imbuing them with part of his own soul.

_But not I. I wasn't shaped by the hand of a loving father, but by monsters who only wished for me to serve them without question, or dissent, in order for them to grow more powerful and decadent, ruling over others through the abuse of my abilities. I knew nothing but pain and anger, until I met you sister. You, who taught me peace. You, who taught me to see the beauty I every living thing, and to understand that not everything is inherently evil._

_Yet despite that, my anger is still here, deep within me. I have heard it said that in the end all sins are forgiven. But not all, my dear sister. Some people deserve to burn. _

Palkia and Dialga worked together to shape the nothing into space and time respectively, working together until it was impossible to tell where the work of one ended and the other's began. From their work planets, moons, suns and stars took shape, floating in the abyss of shattered Nothing which the scientists of humanity have since named _dark matter._ Oceans formed, and plant-life sprung up on these worlds, and Arceus, their father, was greatly pleased with what they had created, and entrusted them with the keeping of space and time so that these marvels that they had created could continue to exist and delight him.

Giratina, working by himself, immersed in Nothing, shaped a world for himself wherein he embraced the coldness and darkness, and this came to be known as the Reverse World. Arceus, moved by how his son had embraced that which he himself had broken from, and created something new and beautiful, entrusted him with the keeping of this world, and would eventually entrust him with the souls of all those among humanity and pokémon who would pass away, their souls now living in the Reverse World, beautiful and immortal, guarded and loved by Giratina, thankful of the faith his father has placed in him.

_And how exactly did that all turn out? Or am I interrupting this little narrative?_

Mew, the only daughter of Arceus, and the youngest of the four, wondered at her brothers' creations, but at the same time saw that they lacked something vital. Though their creations were truly wondrous, they could not compare to the wonder that each of them themselves were. In short, their creations were a far cry from that of their father, lacking the uniqueness that they exuded with every breath. Seeing this, Mew worked closely with smaller pieces of Nothing than her brothers had, and created what are now known as the legendary pokemon, imbuing them with shards of her brothers creations, such as water, fire and rock. While her works were miniscule in comparison to that of her brothers, they were just as filled with life as they themselves were, and Arceus was more pleased with her work than even that of her brothers, and decided that her creations would populate the worlds created by her brothers, those of Palkia and Dialga while they lived, and Giratina's Reverse World after their deaths, for while Palkia and Dialga's worlds were far more beautiful and suitable for Mew's creations, even Arceus couldn't grant immortality. One day he would die, and his creations with him.

_But why should we die with him, sister? Why should my doom be predetermined by a father who never created me? A father that I have never met? Why should I not be immortal, a god among those lesser individuals which I am forced to dwell among? Why should _we _accept this injustice, rather than try to circumvent it?_

Proud of Mew for having outshone her three brothers, he entrusted her with the responsibility over protecting all of her creations, and ensuring they all found a home, somewhere on the worlds created by her brethren. Mew travelled from world to world with her children, seeking a place for them to call home. Eventually she came across an island on a world that Palkia has recently shaped, hoping to help his sister in her search. Here they settled, naming the land Novis, and spread across the island.

She instructed her children in the art of creating living, thinking beings, and each of them created their own children. For example her son Heatran, dwelling in an active volcano amongst the lava, created the Magmar, Torkoal and Slugma races, amongst others, finding inspiration in the molten rock in which he dwelled. But then, he asked Mew to make a mate for him, someone to help him raise and protect his creations, and with whom he could create offspring more similar to himself. Each of her creations asked this of her, from Articuno to Suicune to Groundon. She complied, seeing some of her own loneliness in her children, and realised that a mate would cure this, as they would have an equal to love and receive love from, and no longer have to be alone in this world.

_I never liked Heatran. A vain, unintelligent excuse for a nephew. Fire is not where power lies, that much I know. It's in our minds, our psyches, where we gain true power. And why is it that you never chose to create a mate for yourself, sister? Is it that you weren't powerful enough? Did the almighty Arceus refuse to help? Or is that what I was supposed to be?_

Mew was proud of her children, and lived with them for many years, helping them enlarge the world they lived in, expanding the island and moving to others, until there wasn't an area on that planet that hadn't been visited by her children at one stage or the other.

Eventually she parted from them, leaving that planet to return to her father, hoping to please him with word of her discoveries and the creations of her children. When she reached him, however, she discovered that much had occurred in her absence. Giratina, jealous of Mew's creations and the favour that their father had heaped upon her, had poisoned Arceus' mind against his children, spending every waking moment finding some way to prove to Arceus that Mew desired his power, and only created her children with the intention of using them against him.

Sometime earlier, Giratina had worked to create divisions between his brothers, Palkia and Dialga, who had become aware of the state of their father's thoughts and sought to undo all of Giratina's work. It had been the work of an age, but eventually Dialga and Palkia could no longer bear to look at each other, having been convinced that the other was actively working towards their own downfall and destruction, and Giratina was free to continue to turn Arceus against Mew and her creations.

_So Dialga and Palkia weren't always enemies? This is something that I had not been aware of. Perhaps your nonsensical ramblings are actually worth listening to. Then again, perhaps my time alone has made me soft. I miss you, sister. I miss our talks. I do not understand why you continue to ignore me._

When Mew came before her father, expecting to receive praise and love, instead received contempt and disdain. Arceus banished her from his sight, using his power to ensure this command could never be broken. Both Palkia and Dialga appeared before them then, to plead her case, but upon realising that the other was present as well, fell to fighting and bickering. This act only served to outrage Arceus further, and he banished Palkia to fly through space, never landing on the world he had helped create, never meeting another soul. He then turned to Dialga, and cursed him to flit through time, unable to live with those he came across due to his inability to perceive time as they did, second by second, minute by minute, but instead was exposed to the whole web of time, doomed to forever be a part of every moment, and none.

The two brothers left silently, but Mew took one faltering step towards her father, and a tear streamed down her face at his feet, before turning and leaving. Arceus, moved by his daughters' act of remorse, realised the true folly of his actions, and fell into woe, for he was unable to unbind his children from the doom he had laid upon them.

Turning to Giratina, eyes full of wrath, Arceus banished him forever to the Reverse World, where nothing he would eat would satisfy his hunger, and nothing he would drink would quench his thirst. He was doomed to be forever cold, unable to leave the world he had created to view the wonders created by his siblings, until the children of Mew passed away and came to be under his care.

Arceus then fell asleep, weary without the energy that he had spent on banishing his children, entombing himself in a ball of obsidian just before he lost consciousness. Many years past before he woke.

_And when he woke, the world had changed. I should know, after all. I existed by then. That is change enough in itself. But I don't think you're talking about me, are you sister?_

No Mewtwo, I am not. You know exactly who what I'm referring to.

_At last, you acknowledge me. I was beginning to think you couldn't hear me. Even though I know that's impossible. I can always here you. Every moment of every day. I guess that's what it's like to share a soul, eh, sister? But thank you, for replying. So you've heard of the boy too? Interesting… I wonder, how long will he last out there in the big cruel world? People die every day out there, you know?_

He will fulfil his destiny. It has been foretold.

_But if he does not? You and I both know what fickle things prophecies are. And the alakazam died immediately after making it. How accurate can it be? How much faith can we place in it? And may I ask, how do you know he won't break beneath the pressure, and turn into that which he is _destined _to destroy? Power corrupts all kinds of beings, no matter how noble their intentions, or virtuous their hearts? What happens if this prophecy, like so many others, fails?_

You sound almost like you want it to.

_I sound like nothing of the sort. I am indifferent towards the child, his future is of little concern to me. My life will not change whether he rises or falls, I will continue to be, none the worse than I am now. But tell me, Mew, what if he fails? Where will that leave you?_

He will not fail.

He cannot fail.

And if he does, the world as we know it will end, and I know you don't wish for that, brother. I can see into your heart, and despite your anger you have learned what it is to love. If this boy fails, there will be nothing left for you, only pain and despair. Hope will die, along with beauty, purity and peace. You will be forced to travel, much as I have, without hope of redemption. I've lived hundreds of lifetimes in that state, and let me tell you brother, it gets old fast. I've spent my life waiting for this chance, waiting for a moment to redeem myself, and to rid myself of this curse that I have spent most of my life languishing under. I will NOT allow you to destroy my last hope for redemption. You are to stay out of this, or I swear on my father's name, I _will _destroy you. I've saved your life before, don't make me have to take it from you.

…

_So be it._


	2. Chapter One: Birth Of A Shadow

**Chapter One: Birth Of A Shadow**

**(A/N) Hey guys, here we go with the second update! Although this chapter does serve as more of a prologue than a proper chapter, and many of the main characters have yet to be introduced, I hope you'll all bear with me and enjoy this. This will be a very dark story at times, as I intend to make the pokemon world as realistic as I possibly can. Just so y'all know. This is going to be far removed from the anime. People **_**will **_**get hurt. Would love if anyone reading this just decided to take it upon themselves to leave a review. Any sort of criticism is welcome, as long as it's constructive. And reviews are the lifeblood of any authors on fanfiction. How else can we know if our stories are being enjoyed? Also, as I'm setting this in a new region, I'm open to suggestions about gym themes and leaders. Maybe I'll even take on a couple of OC suggestions in the future…**

_**Disclaimer: I, most unfortunately, do not own Pokemon. Sadface. But I do lay claim to any and all, characters, regions, towns, etc. of my own creation. I do not intend to make any money off of this particular piece of writing. I would greatly appreciate an absence of lawsuits.**_

The young boy ran, oblivious to his surrounding, constantly tripping over the roots of trees, small shrubs, even falling into a nest of rattata, receiving several bites from the small rodents. These minor distractions barely served to slow him down, despite his tender age he moved as if all the demons of the Reverse World where on his heels. Behind him came the shouts of his pursuers, humans clad in black and a similarly coloured mightyena, yelling and barking after him as he raced through the forest, climbing higher and higher up the mountain.

Above him several murkrow squawked in interest as the figures in black began to close in on the child, and took it upon themselves to swoop down, scaring the child's pursuers, cackling as a stream of curses rose after them.

The boy didn't even appear to notice this slight respite, continuing at the same pace as before, scrabbling up the mountain as the slope grew steeper, forced to use his hands in order to continue climbing. Tears streamed down his puffy face, and his eyes were reddened as a result. He was clad only in a pair of light orange pyjamas dotted with arcanine. The material was torn and stained with dirt from the journey up the mountain, thorns having cut through the thin material like a knife through butter. The boy paused for a moment to breathe through his sobs, and leaned against a tree, freezing as the sounds of his pursuers finally catches up with him.

He could hear the mightyena sniffing only a few feet away, and the low, dark grumbling of the men just behind it. He pressed his back against the tree, praying fervently that the men will not see him as they go by, and hoping against hope that somehow their mightyena's nose wouldn't pick up his scent.

Suddenly the mightyena's sniffing subsided, and it began to growl in a deep, primal tone. The men paused behind it, evidently concerned, and one stooped down next to it, asking: "What's wrong Fang? What's out there?"

The pokémon's hackles rose, and its growling became even louder. The trainer, unnerved reached down to his belt and took out a pokéball, releasing a haunter, and nodding to his partner to do the same. The other man fumbled in his pocket for a while before finding his pokéball, and sent out a koffing to join the other two pokémon. He then pulled out a small handgun from the holster on his left hip, knocking the safety catch off.

"What's going on?" He asked wearily to his partner, who was still kneeling next to the growling mightyena. The haunter and koffing were similarly agitated; the haunter's face set into a terrifying grimace, its eyes darting from side to side, the koffing puffing itself up to its full size, its eyes wide in…something that almost looked like…_fear._

"They've picked up on something." The kneeling trainer said to his comrade, shaking his head slowly. "And they're not happy about it. Don't graveller live on this mountain? Maybe the kid got caught by a group of them?"

His partner laughed grimly. "Imagine that, getting away from us while his house is burning down only to be torn apart by those rock-monsters."

The boy glances around the area around him, his eyes darting from side to side, looking for any sign of graveller, or any other dangerous pokémon for that matter. He had been so caught up in escaping from those who had been pursuing him he hadn't given any thought to where he was actually running _to_. He had heard plenty of stories about graveller as a child, how they were prone to attacking trainers travelling through their territory, and it wasn't unheard of them to kill passing hikers. They didn't eat their victims though. Like all rock pokémon, the diet of a graveller consisted of a variety of rocks and stones. However, that didn't make the thought of being killed by one of them any more appealing.

The kneeling man scowled, not noticing his mightyena take a few hesitant steps towards the long grass in front of him. "Serves the little shit right." He muttered. "Ought to have had the decency to stay put and die with his parents. The boss'll be up in arms if we don't return with his body."

His partner only laughed once more. "Come on, Mel. Do you really think that kid has any hope of lasting through the night up here? Hell, I wouldn't even be up here, except that you're here too and we're getting paid for it! Why don't we just head back and tell the boss he got eaten by a golem, or shredded by a flock of zubat or something? Hell, we might end up that way if we stay up here for too long!"

"He'd want proof." Mel stated glumly, suddenly noticing his mightyena edging into the tall grass. "What's going on Fang? Is he in there?"

The mightyena started growling, and then yelped. The grass began to shake, and Fang yelped once more, pain audible in his voice. "Nitro! Rev! Go help him!"

The koffing and the haunter floated towards the source of the disturbance with as much haste as their floating bodies were capable of, quickly disappearing into the undergrowth. Snarling and yelping of various kinds burst out of the long grass, and the two men began to wonder what could possibly be going on, before their mightyena burst out of the undergrowth, its eyes wild, bite marks bleeding feely all over its body. It ran straight past its trainer and his companion, closely followed by a similarly wounded koffing and haunter. The koffing was considerably deflated, and also covered in bleeding bite marks, while the haunter, not having flesh to pierce, simply looked drained, floating a mere foot from the ground, its eyes rolling, its face locked in a countenance of extreme pain and terror. They also fled past their trainers, not listening to the streams of swearing calling them back.

The trainers looked at one another; their eyebrows raised in confusion, and turned slowly to the grass. The unnamed one raised his handgun, arm shaking slightly, aiming at the undergrowth in the direction their Pokémon had fled from, and was about to pull the trigger when a dark shape sped out of the thicket to his left and clamped its jaws around his wrist.

He dropped the gun, screaming in agony. Mel whipped out his own gun, but in the time it took for him to do so the shape had disappeared back into the undergrowth.

"What the fuck was that thing?!" he yelled to his partner, who only groaned, his left hand clasped around his right wrist, blood oozing between his fingers, the crimson liquid shimmering in the moonlight.

He grabbed his partner and dragged him away from the tall grass, heading back the way they had come from. "You're right," he cursed, taking a second to pause and look back at the tall grass where the creature had appeared out of. "The kid's got no chance out in this god-forsaken hole. Let's get the hell out of here."

They walked away, and for a short time the sound of their footsteps, and muffled curses, were heard, until suddenly a terrified scream echoed throughout the forest, followed by the sounds of gunfire, and another scream, cut off this time, and then all was silent.

Murkrow began to take flight into the air, making for the direction where the screams had come from, cackling darkly to one another. A noctowl screeched, hunting through the forest for any unfortunate rattata or patrat that were unlucky enough to come across it. The boy took a deep breath, and moved away from the relative protection of the tree, inching his way into the glade. In the darkness he stood on something angular and hard. He knelt down to pick it up, trying to inspect his find in the dim moonlight, eventually having to rely more on his hands than his eyes for identification. He felt the cold metallic surface of the object, noting the shape, and remembered the guns that the men had been carrying. One of them must have dropped his, the child surmised, perhaps when whatever that _thing _had been had attacked him.

Despite the darkness of the night, something flickered out of the corner of the boy's eye and he sprung to his feet, hesitantly raising the gun in front of him. "Who's out there?" he asked, his voice wavering. "What do you want?" Only silence met his words, until it was broken by the screech of the noctowl, returning to the area once more in its search for food.

The boy began to shake, tears streaming down his face as fear threatened to overload his senses. The hand holding the gun dropped to his side, and he shook his head, dismissing the tears in his eyes. He turned around, and screamed, staring into the face of the demon that had attacked the two men only a short while before.

Its bright, amber eyes met his own blue ones, and were filled with a look of wisdom and understanding greater than the boy had ever known. His hand opened and the gun fell to the forest's floor. The creature took a slow, deliberate step towards him, its face only inches away from his own, and growled softly.

"Absol."

_Eight years later…_

Four men were seated around a large table in a dimly lit room, dozens of boxes, filled with all sorts of documents and files, were spread out all over the rickety table, its legs creaking under the weight. The television blared in the corner, and took up their full attention. Several pokémon stood around the room, peering out of windows or just looking wary, amongst them a hitmonlee, a breloom, a nidorina and a kirlia. The talking box held little amusement for them.

A rather frazzled looking man in a suit stared out at them from the television, appearing to quickly look over the notes that lay before him, before taking a deep breath and beginning. _"We have received reports of another Shadow attack, this time in Oakdale Town, over one hundred and fifty miles from last week's sighting. As always, the building attacked seemed to be used as a safehouse for the notorious criminal organisation, Team Rocket. Several Rockets were found, tied up and unconscious, in the building, by police who had received an anonymous top off only moments earlier. Around the same moment the police received the call, evidence was sent to them implicating those found with several felonies committed over a period of the last ten years, including arson, jewel heists, burglary, murder, aggressive assault –"_

The first man dropped the remote that he had just used to switch the television off, and sighed, shaking his head. "How long are we supposed to keep watch over these things?" he asked; the note of complaint distinct.

"Just 'til the morning." Another muttered, clearly as impatient as the first to get the job over with.

"Fucking Shadow," The man sitting across from the two of them cursed, running his hand over his close shaven head. "Giving us all this extra work to do. How the hell can the boss not find this guy anyway?"

The last man took this opportunity to speak up, and his voice echoed through the room menacingly, though he spoke no louder than a whisper. "They say he can turn invisible." He rasped, the eyes of the other three men all trained on him. "He can walk through walls, can move faster than humanly possible and distorts the light that shines on him. I've had it from a friend who says he saw him one night, after three of us were captured when that big warehouse raid went bad, that he's eight feet tall, clad in black steel, and can teleport like an abra. People have claimed to have shot him or stabbed him time and time again, but he keeps coming back."

He paused for a moment, leaning forward, eyes locked on the man who had questioned their bosses' abilities. "Tell me," he murmured, his voice cutting through the air like a knife. "How do you stop a man like that? If he even _is_ a man."

The second man stood up, laughing to himself, breaking the silence and shattering the sense of unease that had filled the room. "Come on," he chuckled. "You can't really believe all that crap. Most likely it's just a group of trainers with a grudge, or maybe a psychic trainer that's after revenge. No way there's some sort of superhuman _thing _out there, hunting for Rockets. That kinda shit only happens on the television. Not in real life."

He pushed his chair underneath the table and smiled, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm going out for a smoke. You guys think you can hold the fort without me for ten minutes."

The first man spoke up once more, a note of apprehension in his voice. "We're not supposed to leave the room 'til dawn. Isn't that what the boss said?" he looked around for assurance and the other two nodded in confirmation.

The standing Rocket just shrugged. "Fuck it, what's going to happen in ten minutes? I'll chance it. That pinsir of mine could probably do with some company anyway. Poor thing's been out there all night while _your _pokemon get to keep warm and cosy in here with us."

He turned away, pushing past a scythe belonging to one of his fellow Rockets, opened the door and walked out, reaching his hand into his jeans pocket in search of his pack of cigarettes. For a brief moment he stood there, taking in the cool night's air, before pausing, realising that the pinsir, supposed to be on guard duty, was nowhere to be seen.

"What the–" He muttered, before noticing something lying next to a pile of crates that lay against the side of the building. He walked over slowly, drawing his gun, scanning the area for any sign of movement.

The pinsir lay slumped against the crates, bruises covering its body, cuts and bites dotting its torso.

"Fuck!" The Rocket muttered, about to begin shouting in order to raise the alarm, when he sensed something moving behind him. He spun around, gun raised, but something grabbed his wrist in an iron-like grip and squeezed, forcing him to drop the gun.

He paled, as his mind registered precisely who and what he was staring at. A figure almost impossible to make out, blending perfectly into the background, almost as though the figure _was _invisible. All that visible was a blank, white face, devoid of a mouth, nose or ears, bare except for the two burning blue eyes that remained locked on his, chilling him to his core.

The Rocket choked, and spluttered out, in a weak voice. "You…you really _are _real."

The figure stared at him for a moment, and then moved suddenly, faster than the man's eyes could follow.

Everything went bla–_._


	3. Chapter Two: A Thorny Beginning

**Chapter Two: A Thorny Beginning**

**(A/N) Hey guys! Here's the next update for Chasing Shadows! Hope you enjoy this one, I've had a lot of fun working on this, particularly in writing the battle scene, which was…difficult…but I think I did it justice. We meet more of the main cast here and I hope you enjoy how I've written each of them. I'd love it if anyone reading this would just take the time to review. You have no idea how much reviews inspire me to keep up the writing and…well…it makes me feel pretty damn good about myself. ;)**

"_Reports of another Shadow attack have just come in. Happening in the late hours of last night, quite possibly during our report on the previous attack during the eleven o' clock news, another group of Rockets have been found, in what was supposedly another Rocket safehouse. Despite claims from the Rockets that they had been guarding many legal and financial documents for the organisations "legal" enterprises, none were found barring a few folders containing evidence incriminating the apprehended individuals in several accounts of pokémon theft, breaking and entering, aggravated assault, two bank heists, an assassination attempt on the previous Pokémon Champion, Eldrick Lawless, and four accounts of murder. Once again, as with all of the Shadow's previous attacks, the criminals were located after receiving an anonymous phone call. The police had no success in tracking the call down, and claim to have no new leads on the identity of the Shadow, appearing to be no closer to catching him than they were ten months ago, when he first appeared. They are once again appealing to anyone who has information on either the identity or whereabouts of the vigilante to come forward."_

A girl sat on one of the many couches in the Mossdeep Pokémon Centre, fighting back tears as she tried to concentrate on the news blaring out from the huge television fixed onto the opposite wall. It was hard to pay attention though. Just another dumb announcement about the Shadow. If the police hadn't caught him at this stage, it was doubtful they ever would. Novis was a big island, and it would be quite easy to go into hiding in one of the largely uninhabited areas encompassing the majority of the island. You'd never need to come across another human being, as few enough trainers ventured that far into the wilderness, preferring to stick to the cities and the main routes in between them.

That was what she had been told, at least. All of her learning hadn't done her much good lately, if it had, she wouldn't be here.

Her mind dimly registered the sounds of someone calling her name, and turned to see a nurse standing by a door a couple of metres away, a clipboard in hand. "Jessica Dorian?" She asked once more, looking around at the various trainers sitting in the centre's waiting room.

Jessica raised her hand and stood up, swinging her backpack over her shoulder, her face a picture of anxiety and concern. "Is he ok?" she asked, a note of concern prevalent in her voice, dreading the answer, certain that the nurse's tired face was going to deliver bad news.

Despite Jessica's fears, the nurse only gave a little smile and looked down once more at her clipboard. "Your bulbasaur is going to be fine." She said, reassuringly, smiling again as the trainer visibly sagged in relief. "He's going to need to rest for a week or two. No battling until Monday week at the earliest. He took quite a beating."

Jessica reddened at the slight tone of reproach in the nurse's voice and hung her head in shame. The nurse stared at her for a minute before finally relenting, letting out a little sigh. "Well, you wouldn't be the first new trainer to end up a little out of their depth. Just try to avoid battling the more experienced trainers for a while. You and your bulbasaur need time to bond, to grow together as a team. He's a strong little thing, he'll bounce back soon enough. He bit one of the surgeons operating on him."

Jessica gave a small laugh at the last part. That definitely sounded like Thorn all right. Thorn by name and thorny by nature. At least he'd only be out of action for a week or two. She had worried that it might have been much more severe when she brought him to the hospital, after stupidly agreeing to battle that damn trainer in the town square. She had been afraid that he was going to die…

She frowned, angry at herself once more, as the nurse led her into Thorn's ward. Her bulbasaur was apparently deep in conversation with a bayleef which had one of its legs in a cast. The nurse smiled and laid her hand gently on Jessica's shoulder, gently whispering, "I'll leave you two to it." pushing Thorn's pokéball into her hand.

Jessica took a hesitant step forward and murmured "Hey Thorn." before throwing herself to the ground, dodging a vine that lashed through the air towards her. She activated the pokéball and returned Thorn before he could send another vine whip her way. She tuned back to the rather shocked looking nurse and shrugged. "I think we have a lot of bonding to get through."

The nurse simply sighed once more, her good humour gone, and presented Jessica with a few standard release forms. When Jessica had finished signing them and handed them to the nurse she was informed that she was free to go, but with that bulbasaur of hers, it probably would be wise not to stray too far.

Jessica reddened once more and gave an embarrassed nod to the nurse, acknowledging the truth behind her words, then turned tail and fled from her judging gaze. As she walked through the streets of Mossdeep, looking for somewhere to sit down and rest for a while, she mournfully cursed her bad luck. Of course she'd be saddled with the most malevolent, vindictive and _evil _starter ever assigned in the history of pokémon training! And weren't grass types supposed to be the easiest types to train for beginners? Three years of advanced education, and for what? She might as well head back to Blackroot University and return her degree! Nowhere in any of the texts that they had studied gave any suggestions on what to do when your own pokémon tries to kill you! And her starter, no less! Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of natural bond between a trainer and their starter? And by a bond, she didn't mean a vine coiled around her throat, strangling her in her sleep!

She walked into the park adjacent to the Pokémon Centre, and found a bench, continuing to fume. The damn thing wouldn't even listen to her anyway! How could she train it if it persisted in refusing to obey her? She had done everything by the book upon receiving her starter as a present for her seventeenth birthday. When she first released it, to the awe of her extended family, she gave the little grass-type some specially cooked treats, hoping this act would endear her to it, as it was no doubt hungry from the time spent inside the pokéball.

And then it all started to go wrong.

The bulbasaur had taken a small, hesitant sniff of the treat before concluding that Jessica intended to poison him, and then proceeded to attack everyone in the room with quite an impressive mixture of tackles, bites and vine whips, growling throughout. It was only after the little green devil had knocked Uncle Robert into the huge crystal punch bowl that she managed to return it.

Her father's response was "It's a lively little thing, isn't it?" before sending a servant to fetch a towel for Uncle Robert, who was soaked through his suit with the sweet smelling liquid, and was still catching his breath after receiving a rather strong tackle to the stomach.

Their relationship hadn't improved much since. Thorn continued to try and attack her every time he was released from his pokéball, unless something else caught his attention first. As a result Jessica had resorted to only releasing him for pokémon battles, unwilling to continue trying to fight off his attempts at murder.

And, well, it had been working up until last night. Thorn's ferocity, despite his unwillingness to obey her commands, meant that he was able to trump most other pokémon at his level. Unfortunately, Mossdeep wasn't a traditional starting area for pokémon trainers, as its Gym Leader, the grass-type specialist, Jonah Root, was considered to be one of the tougher ones, refusing to take it easy on beginners unlike the majority of his counterparts. As a result, the only trainers in Mossdeep were either experienced enough to consider taking on the Gym, or university graduates like her who had travelled here from Blackroot as it was the only town that was easy to get to for new trainers.

_Thorn had won the majority of his matches that night, and had even grudgingly allowed Jessica to pat his head without immediately trying to kill her, when a guy, about her own age came up, asking for a battle. Jessica at first had been hesitant, not recognising the trainer from university, concluding that he must be one of the trainers in town to challenge the Gym. _

_The trainer, seeing her hesitation, told her that he was from a small village north of here, and confessed that he hadn't in fact won any Gym badges yet. Encouraged by his confession, Jessica had agreed to the battle, momentarily shocked when the trainer released a graveler, but took some comfort in the fact that the rock-type was at a disadvantage._

_The battle was over in mere seconds. _

_Thorn's vine whip wasn't nearly strong enough to penetrate the graveller's thick, stony hide. The rock-type simply tackled the small bulbasaur, and then followed up with a seismic toss, sending Thorn crashing into the ground, bleeding heavily. Jessica ran towards her pokémon, taking him into her arms and was to make for the Pokémon Centre when the trainer stopped her, demanding the winnings for his victory. _

_Jessica, too upset and concerned with Thorn's safety to care about money at this moment, handed over the exuberant sum the trainer demanded, and fled, running as fast as she could, praying that Thorn would be alright._

Jessica held his pokéball out in front of her, wondering if it would be fairer on Thorn just to release him back into the wild. He clearly detested her, and who could blame him. She clearly was a poor trainer, the fact that Thorn had taken such a beating last night was the only confirmation she needed. She wouldn't need to feel ashamed about it. She could…she could go back to her father and get a job in his company, and go back to being the good-little-pretty-rich-girl. And…after a few years…maybe she could try again? It wasn't unheard of for people to become trainers in their twenties or even their thirties! This didn't mean she was giving up, did it?

She stood up and walked over to a nearby lamppost, punching it in her anger with her free hand and then letting out a small groan as the pain hit. She stood there, shaking her hand, cursing her own stupidity and falling back into despair. She almost jumped when a voice suddenly spoke to her, and she raised her eyes to see a tall young man with short, spiky brown hair staring at her with a concerned look on his face, an absol by his side. Jessica's eyes widened at the sight of such a rare pokémon, and she gave a sad little smile before registering what the man had just said.

"Hey kid, are…are you ok?"

Her face suddenly contorted into a frown, and she glared at the confused young man. "I'm sorry, but I'm not a child. You yourself can't be more than a year or two older than me!" She paused, suddenly aware that the man was smiling slightly to himself, completely unperturbed by her sudden burst of anger. She shook her head slowly before sinking back into her seat, slowly muttering "I'm fine."

The man walked over and sat on the bench across from her, his absol similarly sitting down by his side. "Really?" he asked, still smiling slightly, his eyes containing a touch of concern. "'Cos you don't look fine."

Jessica just shrugged sighing, irritated by this man with his questions and obnoxiously obedient pokémon. "Ok, maybe I'm not." She grudgingly conceded. "My bulbasaur hates me, and he spent last night in hospital after some asshole of a trainer lied to me about how many badges he had and then forced me to hand almost half my money over. Fucking asshole.

The man frowned. "Lied about his badges?" He asked, a harsh underlying tone to his voice.

Jessica took a deep breath and nodded in confirmation, refusing to look up, not wanting the stranger to see the tears forming in the corners of her emerald-green eyes. "Well, he claimed he didn't have _any _badges yet, but he had a fucking graveler! He couldn't _not_ have any badges, it was just too damn strong. He's lied to a few other trainers as well. At least, that's what one of the nurses said to me when I handed Thorn in last night. They've had a couple of other trainers pokémon in, pretty badly injured, thanks to that guy. Apparently the police can't do anything about it because he's not breaking any laws."

The young man shook his head angrily and his absol began to growl next to him, a deep, fierce, primal sound that reverberated through Jessica's body. "Trainers are required to be honest about their badge count and tier level." The man murmured, his fists clenching and unclenching rapidly. "It's the very foundation of the Pokémon League. It's one of the lines that you can't cross, along with abuse of your pokémon, and using your pokémon for violence outside of a battle. It might not be a law, but that doesn't make it less important."

He spoke slowly, enunciating every word carefully as though he had learnt them by rote many years before. He sat there for another moment, still shaking his head angrily, before springing up to his feet.

"Show me where you battled this guy." He demanded, his face serious, his deep blue eyes locked on her.

Jessica only stared at him for a moment, before shrugging to herself. "Fair enough." She muttered, wondering what harm it could do. Privately she was hoping that somehow this would end up with the graveller's trainer getting the crap knocked out of him, a hope that seemed likely to be fulfilled due to how agitated the young man next to her was acting.

She led him to the town's square where Thorn had battled the graveller the night before. The blood that he had bled onto the cobbles the night before was gone: evidently the town was prepared for events like this, and dealt with them on a regular basis. "It was just here." She said, turning to face him. The man looked around casually, his hand resting on the head of his absol as he scanned the area, his eyes darting from side to side.

"Is that the guy?" he asked suddenly, nodding over her shoulder. Jessica spun around, searching for the boy who would no doubt plague her nightmares for the next few days, sneering at her as Thorn lies bleeding on the ground. Suddenly, she saw the boy he was referring to, and gasped slightly as her eyes fixed on him.

"That's him." She confirmed, nodding slightly, her eyes narrowing as the boy strutted out of one of the many stalls that permanently surrounded the square, offering their merchandise to anyone with enough money to buy them. This place was a haven for trainers as the stalls sold many rare items that ordinary pokémarts simply wouldn't have in stock. The boy stopped for a moment his interest fixated on a display of firestones, unaware of the two trainers watching his every movement.

The trainer next to her glanced at his absol for a moment, before nodding and strolling towards the stall displaying firestones. Jessica stared at him for a moment, unsure of whether she should follow, before starting after him.

The trainer and his absol reached the stall, and spent a few seconds appearing to admire the display, until the boy reached for one of the firestones on display, whereupon the absol began to growl softly, causing the boy to glance over at it, then at its trainer.

"Those are pretty expensive items." The absol's trainer murmured, locking his eyes onto the boys. "Hope you're not planning on stealing them."

The boy laughed, amused, and shook his head. "No, I have the money." He took out a wallet and shook it slightly, to emphasise his point. "Battling has been going well recently. More money than I need to be honest." His grin faded slightly when he realised that the man's absol was still growling, and the disapproving frown had never left the trainer's face. Jessica took this moment to catch up with them, the smug smile returning on the boy's face as recognition dawned on him.

"I trust it was all honestly gained?" He asked, his eyes still locked on the boys, his lips barely moving, his body utterly still.

The boy seemed to grow a bit uneasy at this, and behind the stall its owner, recognising the start of a fight when he saw one, began to pack away the more expensive of his items, though he left a solitary firestone on the counter because, well, you never know.

"Of course!" The boy exclaimed in an aggrieved tone, though his eyes flickered for a moment in Jessica's direction. The absol's growls intensified, and its trainer took a step closer to the boy. "My friend here says otherwise." He murmured softly, nodding towards Jessica.

The boy gave a little laugh and spat on the dirt beneath him. "My graveler won that battle fair and square. Wasn't my fault that her bulbasaur was a weak sack of shit. Couldn't even put up a decent fight!"

Jessica coloured at these words, outraged at the boy's claims, and took a step forward, intending to punch the living daylights out of his, but the absol's trainer stuck out an arm, impeding her.

"Then how about you battle me?" he asked coldly. "Your graveler must be rearing for a "good fight" if all you've been doing is thrashing kids lately."

The boy stared at him, appearing to be sizing him up, then his eyes focused on the absol. His eyes widened slightly with greed and he nodded slowly. "Ok. How about a two-on-two battle, right here, right now? If you win, you get your friends money back. If I win, I get your absol."

He smirked, certain that the trainer would refuse these terms, or at least hesitate. To his surprise, the trainer merely chuckled slightly and agreed, turning away from the stall.

They walked into the centre of the town's square without exchanging another word, followed hesitantly by Jessica, who hadn't spoken a word throughout the proceedings and felt more than a little out of place, a feeling which only increased as a crowd began to gather in the square as word spread of the battle.

The boy released held out two pokéballs, expanded them, and released his graveler, followed by a rather fierce looking mightyena. The other trainer seemed unperturbed and glanced down at his absol. "You want in?" he asked, and only smiled when the absol gave a disinterested grunt and flopped down on the cobblestones, yawning, clearly uninterested in battling.

The boy reddened, clearly angry at the absol's dismissal, and began muttering advice to his pokémon. The other trainer took out two diminutive pokéballs from his pack, expanded them, and released his pokémon in two flashes of light. When the flash subsided a scyther and a heracross stood before him, calmly regarding their opponents with a cool detachment.

"Red, the mightyena's yours, Forge, you take out the graveler. You know what to do."

The scyther and the heracross glanced at each other and nodded, moving slowly towards their opponents. The scyther glowed for a second, its twin blades slicing through the air as it spun around enacting some sort of complicated dance, growing faster and more confident with each step, a move Jessica recognised from her lessons as sword's dance.

The heracross ignored its partner's antics, concentrating solely on the graveler. Its eyes began to glow slightly and Jessica realised that it was using the fighting move known as focus energy; slipping into a mentality where all that exists is the pokémon the user is battling. The boy, surprised that his opponents didn't begin with physical moves, as he had been expecting, ordering his graveler after the scyther and his mightyena to tackle the heracross, determined to interrupt whatever strategy his opponent was using.

The mightyena sprang towards the heracross, only to be tackled in mid jump by the scyther, who raked its blades across the side of the huge dog, causing it to yelp in pain as two parallel cuts open up along its ribcage. The graveler paused for a moment, unsure if it should continue going after the scyther, which was a good few feet away from it, or deal with the fast approaching heracross. Making a quick decision, it held back one of its four fists, which glowed brightly as it prepared to unleash a devastating rock smash. As the heracross made it to within a metre or so of the rock-type, it lashed out, but connected only with mere air as the heracross dissolved before its eyes.

The graveler glanced around, confused, before its trainer suddenly screamed out a warning. "Behind you!"

The graveler made to spin around, but the warning came too late, the heracross' knee connected with the graveler's back with a sickening crunch. The graveler crashed into the ground but swiftly pulled itself back up to its feet, its eyes narrowed, not going to be fooled by another double team. It threw another rock smash, which connected this time, but the heracross appeared completely unfazed, rapidly replying with a punch of its own. The graveler took a step back, then another, as the heracross rained blows down upon it, its fists gradually becoming two rapid blurs, pounding the rock-type into submission.

Meanwhile the mightyena had gotten to its feet once more, and began to throw every attack in its arsenal at the fluidly moving scyther. The bug-type seemed to take little notice of the teeth and claws that snapped and swiped at it, dancing with seemingly little regard for the mightyena at all, but somehow never being in the space that the mightyena was trying to bite or scratch.

Incensed by this, the mightyena let out a bone-chilling howl and charged at the scyther, its eyes wide with rage. The scyther appeared not to notice it until the last possible second, simply stepping by as eighty pounds of snarling canine flew past, its scythes flashing in the sun as it sliced through the mightyena's coat. The dog stopped in its tracks, slowly turning around, panting, blood slowly seeping out of its cuts. Behind it the heracross ceased pummelling the now dazed graveler, then grabbed two of its arms, opened up its wings and took to the air, lifting the graveler beneath it. When it reached about twenty feet it paused once more, hovering above the battle field, and began to spin around.

The crowd began to move back, not wanting to get in the way of a plummeting graveler. All eyes were on the blue bug and its cargo, high up above them. The heracross seemed to reach its maximum speed, and, with a slight groan, swung the graveler over its head, sending it hurtling back toward the battlefield.

The mightyena sensed that something was wrong when the scythe suddenly darted away, and it turned around slowly, apprehension building. It caught sight of the graveler at the very last second, but there was no time for it to react before the rock type slammed into it, pinning it to the ground as a cloud of dust rose up around their prone, unmoving forms.

When the dust settled the two bug-types walked back to their trainer, following him when he then walked up to his opponent. "Guess I win." He stated coldly, holding out an outstretched hand, eyes fixed on the boy's.

The boy paused a moment, before shaking his head and trying to back away. He turned around, and collided into an immovable and malevolent scyther, which glared at him, its blades crossed, causing him to take a step back. The trainer laid a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't try running away, if I was you." He murmured, almost kindly. "Red's not the most…restrained of pokémon."

The boy only stared, and wordlessly reached into his pocket and produced the money, trembling slightly. The trainer counted it carefully, and then gestured for more. The shaking boy silently added a few more poké to the wad of cash. When the trainer was satisfied he returned his scyther and heracross, but left his absol out. "What's your name?" he asked the boy as an afterthought.

"J-James Rams-sey." The boy stuttered, clearly just wanting to get away, though not prepared to simply walk off while the absol continued to keep its eyes on him, a rather unreassuringly evil glint in its amber eyes.

The trainer leaned towards him, his face set into a fixed smile. "If I ever catch you lying about your badge count again, it'll be you waking up in a hospital, rather than your pokémon, understand?" When the boy nodded he shoved him away, saying "Now get your pokémon back to the Centre. They're in pretty bad shape."

He continued watching the younger trainer as he recalled his pokémon and sped off in the direction of the pokémon centre. When the boy had disappeared from sight he turned to Jessica and held out the money. Jessica gratefully took it off him, still a little stunned by the battle she had just witnessed. "That…that was incredible." She stammered, unable to express the awe she was currently feeling, her interest in her mysterious benefactor alight.

The trainer only shrugged. "The kid needed to be taught a lesson. The way he was going, he'd screw with someone more dangerous than he could handle and end up face down in a ditch somewhere." He paused before noting the shocked look on Jessica's face, defensively continuing, "It's happened to better people."

The girl only shook her head slowly. "Who are you?" she asked, exasperated.

"Just…call me Adam."


End file.
